Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Not a lot of crafty things happening lately. But I did get the urge to try making a card with an irregular cut-out frame. And I wanted to try making little free-hand silhouettes to embellish it. Real card-making aficionados would be using a fancy die cutting machine for the embellishments or at least a craft knife. I used whatever scissors was lying around. When you are playing like you are in grade school, you just go with what you have. The design is from Prairie Schooler, the 'Boo' mini-card. It was just small and cute. Plus Halloween has so many interesting motifs to use. I think it turned out pretty well and I'm sure I'll be using this technique again. Hope it doesn't scare you!

I finally finished a square for a ladybug-themed quilt. I stumbled on this design in a folder of designs from magazines that I had saved before disposing of the issues. Frankly, I rarely go back and stitch them so I guess it's a hoarding instinct. In this case, I finally found a use for this cutie pie. The design is from Cross Stitch & Needlework, May/June 2000. That's a long time ago! So many people have stitched a ladybug square that Bonnie, the quilter for World of Charity Stitching, plans to make two quilts.. one a 'silly ladybug' quilt which this one is destined for and one a 'realistic/elegant ladybug' quilt.

Thought you might like to see where some of these squares I've been stitching ended up. Bonnie makes a lot of the quilts and the following three are ones she made. She comes up with really interesting designs and she's fast as lightning. You wouldn't believe how many of these she turns out.

Here is the teacup quilt that includes the Vermillion Poppy teacup on the right that I stitched:

Here is the birdhouse quilt with my Expect a Miracle square at the top center:

And finally, the lighthouse quilt with the square I stitched in the center:

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Just a few cards to show today. I've been fighting off my intermittent headaches lately, so I stitch a bit only when I'm pain-free. Luckily, I started these cards early so I had plenty of time to finish. The first is a San-Man Originals design, taken from the February installment of a snowman of the month SAL from a couple of years ago. I realized that if you are not a stitcher, you may not understand the incredible appeal of snowmen on everything. Hopefully, by adding the words, I gave the snowman cupid a reason for being. This one goes to a recuperating friend of mine.

Next, I thought I would experiment with a little stitchery for card-making. I love the work of Helen Dardik, an illustrator of colorful, whimsical pieces. I seem to see her work everywhere. The latest was on some Target gift cards. I follow her blog, "Orange You Lucky", and when I was seeking inspiration for this Valentine, I searched around and found a cute older design she had that advertised a giveaway. Click here to see it. I just turned it into a "Cup of Love" design and I will send it to a family with whom I always exchange Valentine cards.

Finally, I made a birthday card for my brother. I had sent him an ornament last December that had an owl on it. He remarked that he really liked owls and had a pillow with an owl design that he loved. I can't believe I'm finding this out after all of these years! So it gave me a reason to stitch that cute French Country owl from JBW. I saw someone else use this goofy color scheme, and it appealed to me so I used the sincerest form of flattery and copied it! ;-) The owl is done in DMC color variations. I know it's not a traditional birthday design, but who gives a "hoot", right?